Brooks (and mom and dad) had a great first “Christmas at Thanksgiving” thanks to Grandma and Grandpa. They spoiled him with all kinds of hugs, kisses, and goodies, including a new DVD player for the car. Brooks really enjoyed his big day, and for us, it was amazing to experience Christmas through the eyes of our little boy for the first time.
After flying home from Phoenix, we spent 3 weeks in South Dakota before driving to Dallas for 10 days to be with my family. Brooks was a little angel on the way there, watching his Baby Einstein videos the whole way. It’s really cute to see how he gets all excited and claps and hollers and waves his hands. He loves to see the other babies on the screen, which is good, because it sure did help pass the time on the 14 hour drive to Gammy and Paw Paw’s.
It was so good to be home in Dallas. Dave spent a ton of time relaxing, for a change. He got to catch up on his sleep, go golfing with my dad, watch a lot of sports, and catch up on his reading. It was so good to see him so relaxed and getting some down time. He works so hard and is always so helpful around the house, so I had really wanted him to take a break while we were there.
I, on the other hand, was so glad to be able to have some fun in the big city. Other than a little bug I had for a few days, I spent some time with a few girlfriends, went shopping with my mom and sister in law, and soaked up the Texas sun!!! It was also nice to visit our Dallas church and see old friends too. For Christmas Eve service, we went to my parent’s church and it was an awesome service that truly celebrated the birth of Christ. Then everyone went back to my parents’ house to celebrate. We had lots of family in town and lots of food!
Christmas morning was so exciting. Seeing Brooks’ little face light up when he saw all of his new little toys scattered around, and watching him learn to tear open the paper…it was great! It feels like those 10 days just flew right by, and before we knew it, it was time to come home. It was kinda hard hugging my momma goodbye and getting in the car, but I just feel so blessed that we had such a great visit and have a great place to come home to. Although, I could do without some of this crazy cold weather!!!
It turns out Brooks picked up a nasty little cough in Texas. We left the day after Christmas to head back to South Dakota. My dad had gotten us a hotel room halfway so that we wouldn’t have to make the whole drive in one day. That night in the hotel was pretty miserable. Brooks started tugging his ear, coughing more, and running a high fever. So by the time we got back to South Dakota the next day, we were all exhausted and run down. The next morning I took Brooks to the doctor and they did chest x-rays to see what was going on. They said it looked like pneumonia and gave us antibiotics. They sent us home and gave us some warning signs to watch for: One being his fluid levels and the other being if his chest started to cave in around his ribs. Well he woke up in the middle of the night with horrible, short, wheezy breaths and it scared momma! His chest was starting to cave in and he had not gone to the bathroom in almost 18 hours, so we headed to the ER. They did more chest x-rays and said the pneumonia was getting worse. They also did some blood tests that came back positive for RSV. In addition to all of that, he has a bad ear infection. So they admitted him to the hospital, telling us it could be 5 or 6 days. But thankfully, we were only there 2 nights, and we are so happy to be home now!
Our little man has been such a trooper. We are just so impressed with how much he has tolerated: all of the poking, prodding, IVs, and tubes. Initially he put up quite a fuss with his breathing treatments, but has since decided they are not so bad after all. Good thing, we are doing them every four hours. When they first put all of the oxygen tubing around his head and nose I thought surely it would only be seconds before he ripped it all off, but he didn’t mess with it at all. He was just smiling and flirting with all of nurses…trying to crawl around without getting tangled in the three wires attached to his body! His sweet little spirit sure makes a momma proud! Dave and I just feel so truly blessed for Brooks’ sweet and happy little disposition even when he doesn’t feel good. We are so thankful that he is on the mend and will be back to his curious self in no time!
So Dave and I got to ring in the New Year, asleep in our separate hospital beds. We were out by 9:00! As we begin a new year, we feel so incredibly thankful for all of our loved ones. So many people have just been amazing through this whole ordeal. We have had visitors bringing breakfast, dinner, drinks, and snacks! We have had neighbors plowing our snow and letting the dog out. We have had so many prayers and messages of support coming our way. And it just feels amazing to know that we have so much love in our lives! Thank you all for that.
2010 has brought many changes for us: a new job for Dave, me taking a break from teaching to stay home with our little boy for a while, a BIG move to South Dakota, and most importantly the absolute joy of being parents to the best little boy in the whole, wide world. (Well, as far as we are concerned anyway!)
Happy New Year!
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